U.S. military gives 623,000 pounds of relief supplies to Philippines

MANILA, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. military says it has donated approximately 623,000 pounds of relief supplies to the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.

The aid, which includes food, water and shelter items, has been supplied through the U.S. Agency for International Development, the American Forces Press Service reported Friday.

In addition to supplies, the U.S. military has also donated aircraft to the relief cause that have logged nearly 480 flight hours carrying out missions such as moving volunteers to the badly-hit city of Tacloban and airlifting about 2,900 displaced people from the affected areas.

Meanwhile, the Philippines on Saturday raised the official death toll from Typhoon Haiyan to 3,633, Voice of America reported.

Authorities said that number may still climb, as a government tally shows 1,179 people are still missing.

People living in the Philippines say they believe the recovery effort will be long and challenging.

Daanbantayan resident Josefa Taneo: "The livelihood of the people here is limited to fishing and small farming so we are not expecting to rebuild this soon. Maybe this will take time because most of the small house are blown down."

While doing an aerial survey of his district, Philippines Congressman Ben Evardone exclaimed, "there is no more Eastern Samar province."